Method and Apparatus for Reinforcement of Broadcast Transmissions in MBSFN Inactive Areas

ABSTRACT

A method for a wireless communication system includes broadcasting that a first service is available in a first MBSFN and a second service is available in a second MBSFN. The method includes supporting a service not broadcasted as available. For example, supporting the first service with the second MBSFN and/or supporting the second service with the first MBSFN. The supporting or reinforcing can be done by echoing. The echoing is scheduled along with the owned service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patentapplication Ser. No. 60/864,779 entitled “A METHOD AND APPARATUS FORREINFORCEMENT OF BROADCAST TRANSMISSIONS IN SFN INACTIVE AREAS” whichwas filed Nov. 7, 2006. The entirety of the aforementioned applicationsis herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

I. Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications,and more particularly to providing a mechanism for reusing the idledradio resources in the MBSFN inactive area to contribute to the adjacentMBSFN transmissions.

II. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as, for example, voice, data, and soon. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, . .. ). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA)systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP LTEsystems, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), localizedfrequency division multiplexing (LFDM), orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system cansimultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals.Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations viatransmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to theterminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from the terminals to the base stations. This communication linkmay be established via a single-in-single-out, multiple-in-signal-out ora multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.

A MIMO system employs multiple (N_(T)) transmit antennas and multiple(N_(R)) receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed bythe N_(T) transmit and N_(R) receive antennas may be decomposed intoN_(S) independent channels, which are also referred to as spatialchannels, where N_(S)≦min{N_(T), N_(R)}. Each of the N_(S) independentchannels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO system can provideimproved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greaterreliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multipletransmit and receive antennas are utilized.

A MIMO system supports a time division duplex (TDD) and frequencydivision duplex (FDD) systems. In a TDD system, the forward and reverselink transmissions are on the same frequency region so that thereciprocity principle allows the estimation of the forward link channelfrom the reverse link channel. This enables the access point to extracttransmit beam forming gain on the forward link when multiple antennasare available at the access point.

In a wireless communication system, a Node B (or base station) maytransmit data to a user equipment (UE) on the downlink and/or receivedata from the UE on the uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers tothe communication link from the Node B to the UE, and the uplink (orreverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the NodeB. The Node B may also send control information (e.g., assignments ofsystem resources) to the UE. Similarly, the UE may send controlinformation to the Node B to support data transmission on the downlinkand/or for other purposes.

In Multicast/Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) transmissions ofmulticast or broadcast services (e.g., MBMS), the coverage of service islimited by interference at the edge of the MBSFN transmission area. Tominimize this problem, current designs call for a “buffer zone” of cellsat the edge of the area that do not transmit on the radio resources usedfor the MBSFN transmission. The radio resources in this buffer zone arecurrently under utilized.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments,and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of allembodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in asimplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that ispresented later.

In accordance with an aspect, a method for a wireless communicationsystem includes broadcasting that a first service is available in afirst MBSFN area and a second service is available in a second MBSFNarea. The method includes supporting a service not indicated asavailable. The supporting or reinforcing can be done by “echoing”, e.g.,transmitting the content of a service in a cell where it would nototherwise be transmitted. The echoing is scheduled along with the ownedservice in one aspect. By owned, it is meant the service belongs to andis advertised as available in a MBSFN area. For example, the firstservice is owned by the first MBSFN area, and the owned service isbroadcast to the subscribing mobile devices in all cells of the firstMBSFN area, optionally including the border cells, but the secondservice is not broadcast in the first MBSFN area. In this aspect of theinvention, instead of idling radio resources associated with the secondservice in the border cells, the border cells can broadcast the secondservice to strengthen the transmission of the second service in nearbycells of the second MBSFN area. The providers of the MBSFN services canbe two different companies or two different network entities, so theindications that a first service is available in a first MBSFN and asecond service is available in a second MBSFN may be transmitted bydifferent parties and/or at different times. In addition, one service orboth services need not be indicated as available in the border cells.

In accordance with an aspect, a processor is configured for using aborder area between at least two adjacent MBSFN transmission areas, theborder area belonging to a first MBSFN transmission area and theprocessor is configured to support a transmission from another MBSFN.The transmission can be a service such as a Multimedia Broadcast andMulticast Service (MBMS) service. The service can be a service that thefirst MBSFN does not advertise as offering. The support can bedynamically altered or changed based upon network conditions orsubscriber factors such as demographics, location of the subscriberand/or a number of current subscribers. For example, the support can beonly initiated when there are more than a threshold number ofsubscribers that can benefit. In one aspect, a method can includetransmitting both a service that the MBSFN does not advertise as havingand a service that the MBSFN does advertise as having. In anotheraspect, an apparatus operable in a wireless communication systemincluding a plurality of cells, the apparatus includes means for reusingan idled radio resource in an MBSFN inactive area to contribute to anadjacent MBSFN transmission; and means for carrying additionaltransmissions in each of the cells. In still another aspect, theapparatus includes a mobile device including a processor configured toreceive from a border area belonging to a first MBSFN area atransmission echoing a service being transmitted in a second MBSFN area.In an aspect a computer program product is provided that includes acomputer-readable medium including code for reusing an idled radioresource in an MBSFN inactive area to contribute to an adjacent MBSFNtransmission.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreembodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects ofthe one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of variousembodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intendedto include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system in accordance withvarious aspects set forth herein.

FIG. 2 depicts an example communications apparatus for employment with awireless communications environment in accordance with one or moreaspects.

FIG. 3 illustrates a noisy environment.

FIG. 4 shows an environment with a first MBSFN area (MBSFN area 1)separated from a second MBSFN area (MBSFN area 2) by an MBSFN inactivearea.

FIG. 5 shows an environment including a medium shaded cell A, a darkshaded cell B, and a light shaded cell C meeting at a triple point inaccordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 6 shows an environment to carry additional transmissions in each ofthe cells where the central dots indicate a duplicate transmission of anadjacent MBSFN area's data in accordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 7 illustrates an environment of scheduling for the cells inaccordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 8 illustrates an environment with a first MBSFN, a second MBSFN, athird MBSFN, a fourth MBSFN, a fifth MBSFN, and a sixth MBSFN, whereineach MBSFN area having 9 cells in accordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 9 illustrates a methodology including broadcasting a first serviceis available in a first MBSFN in accordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 10 illustrates a methodology including reinforcing a broadcast of afirst MBSFN by a second MBSFN at in accordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 11 illustrates a methodology wherein a first MBSFN is broadcastingand a second MBSFN is broadcasting in accordance with one or moreaspects.

FIG. 12 illustrates an environment wherein a first MBSFN is broadcastingand a second MBSFN is broadcasting in accordance with one or moreaspects.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary networked or distributed environment,with server(s) in communication with client computer (s) via anetwork/bus, in which the present innovation can be employed inaccordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 14, an exemplary remote device for implementing at least onegeneralized non-limiting embodiment includes a general purpose computingdevice in the form of a computer in accordance with one or more aspects.

FIG. 15 illustrates a wireless communication system with multiple basestations and multiple terminals such as may be utilized in conjunctionwith one or more aspects.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of an ad hoc or unplanned/semi-plannedwireless communication environment in accordance with one or moreaspects.

FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary access terminal that can provide feedbackto communications networks, in accordance with one or more aspects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of one or more aspects. It may be evident, however, thatsuch aspect(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate describing one or more aspects.

In accordance with an aspect, a method for a wireless communicationsystem includes broadcasting that a first service is available in afirst MBSFN and a second service is available in a second MBSFN. Themethod includes supporting a service not broadcasted as available. Forexample, supporting the first service with the second MBSFN and/orsupporting the second service with the first MBSFN. The supporting orreinforcing can be done by echoing. The echoing is scheduled along withthe owned service. For example, the first service is owned by the firstMBSFN, and the owned service is broadcast to the subscribing mobiledevices, but when a device subscribing to the service of the secondMBSFN is near the first MBSFN, instead of idling the border cells, theborder cells can both broadcast the first service and can also broadcastthe second service to strengthen the second service. Of course theproviders of the MBSFNs can be two different companies so thebroadcasting that a first service is available in a first MBSFN and asecond service is available in a second MBSFN may be done by differentparties and/or at different times. In addition, one service need not bebroadcast as available.

In addition, various aspects of the disclosure are described below. Itshould be apparent that the teaching herein may be embodied in a widevariety of forms and that any specific structure and/or functiondisclosed herein is merely representative. Based on the teachings hereinone skilled in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed hereinmay be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two ormore of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented and/or a method practiced using any numberof the aspects set forth herein. In addition, an apparatus may beimplemented and/or a method practiced using other structure and/orfunctionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspectsset forth herein. As an example, many of the methods, devices, systems,and apparatuses described herein are described in the context of anad-hoc or unplanned/semi-planned deployed wireless communicationenvironment that provides repeating ACK channel in an orthogonal system.One skilled in the art should appreciate that similar techniques couldapply to other communication environments.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,” and thelike are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, eitherhardware, software, software in execution, firmware, middle ware,microcode, and/or any combination thereof. For example, a component maybe, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. One or more components may reside within a processand/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also, thesecomponents can execute from various computer readable media havingvarious data structures stored thereon. The components may communicateby way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with asignal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one componentinteracting with another component in a local system, distributedsystem, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systemsby way of the signal). Additionally, components of systems describedherein may be rearranged and/or complemented by additional components inorder to facilitate achieving the various aspects, goals, advantages,etc., described with regard thereto, and are not limited to the preciseconfigurations set forth in a given figure, as will be appreciated byone skilled in the art.

Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in connection with asubscriber station. A subscriber station can also be called a system, asubscriber unit, mobile station, mobile, remote station, remoteterminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, a user device, oruser equipment. A subscriber station may be a cellular telephone, acordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, awireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), ahandheld device having wireless connection capability, or otherprocessing device connected to a wireless modem or similar mechanismfacilitating wireless communication with a processing device.

Moreover, various aspects or features described herein may beimplemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term “article ofmanufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. Forexample, computer-readable media can include but are not limited tomagnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips. . . ), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk(DVD) . . . ), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick,key drive . . . ). Additionally, various storage media described hereincan represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable mediafor storing information. The term “machine-readable medium” can include,without being limited to, wireless channels, and various other mediacapable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/ordata.

Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As usedin this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, orclear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of thenatural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; orX employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under anyof the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” asused in this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

As used herein, the terms to “infer” or “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

The transmission reinforcing techniques described herein may be used forvarious wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA,and SC-FDMA systems. The terms “system” and “network” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). Cdma2000 covers IS-2000,IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implement a radiotechnology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). AnOFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMÒ, etc. Thesevarious radio technologies and standards are known in the art.

UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of Universal Mobile TelecommunicationSystem (UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an upcoming release of UMTSthat uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). Cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 16” (3GPP2). For clarity,certain aspects of the techniques are described below for uplinktransmission in LTE, and 3GPP terminology is used in much of thedescription below.

LTE utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on thedownlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) onthe uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple(N) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to astones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Ingeneral, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDMand in the time domain with SC-FDM. For LTE, the spacing betweenadjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers(N) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. In one design, N=512 for asystem bandwidth of 5 MHz, N=1024 for a system bandwidth of 10 MHz, andN=2048 for a system bandwidth of 20 MHz. In general, N may be anyinteger value.

The system may support a frequency division duplex (FDD) mode and/or atime division duplex (TDD) mode. In the FDD mode, separate frequencychannels may be used for the downlink and uplink, and downlinktransmissions and uplink transmissions may be sent concurrently on theirseparate frequency channels. In the TDD mode, a common frequency channelmay be used for both the downlink and uplink, downlink transmissions maybe sent in some time periods, and uplink transmissions may be sent inother time periods. The LTE downlink transmission scheme is partitionedby radio frames (e.g. 10 ms radio frame). Each frame comprises a patternmade of frequency (e.g. sub-carrier) and time (e.g. OFDM symbols). The10 ms radio frame is divided into plurality of adjacent 0.5 mssub-frames (also referred to as sub-frames or timeslots andinterchangeably used hereinafter). Each sub-frame comprises plurality ofresource blocks, wherein each resource block made up of one or moresub-carrier and one or more OFDM symbol. One or more resource blocks maybe used for transmission of data, control information, pilot, or anycombination thereof.

A single-frequency network or MBSFN is a broadcast network where severaltransmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequencychannel. Analog FM and AM radio broadcast networks as well as digitalbroadcast networks can operate in this manner. Analog televisiontransmission has proven to be more difficult, since the MBSFN results inghosting due to echoes of the same signal.

A simplified form of MBSFN can be achieved by a low power co-channelrepeater, booster, or broadcast translator, which is utilized as gapfiller transmitter. The aim of MBSFNs is efficient utilization of theradio spectrum, allowing a higher number of radio and TV programs incomparison to traditional multi-frequency network (MFN) transmission. AnMBSFN may also increase the coverage area and decrease the outageprobability in comparison to an MFN, since the total received signalstrength may increase to positions midway between the transmitters.

MBSFN schemes are somewhat analogous to what in non-broadcast wirelesscommunication, for example cellular networks and wireless computernetworks, is called transmitter macrodiversity, CDMA soft handoff andDynamic Single Frequency Networks (DSFN). MBSFN transmission can beconsidered as a special form of multipath propagation. In multipathpropagation generally, the radio receiver receives several echoes of thesame signal, and the constructive or destructive interference amongthese echoes (also known as self-interference) may result in fading.This is problematic especially in wideband communication and high-datarate digital communications, since the fading in that case isfrequency-selective (as opposed to flat fading), and since the timespreading of the echoes may result in intersymbol interference (ISI).Fading and ISI can be avoided by means of diversity schemes andequalization filters. In an MBSFN transmission, means are provided forthe receiver to align these echoes of the signal so that they functiononly as constructive interference, resulting in a higher signal-to-noiseratio (SNR).

In wideband digital broadcasting, self-interference cancellation isfacilitated by the OFDM or COFDM modulation method. OFDM uses a largenumber of slow low-bandwidth modulators instead of one fast wide-bandmodulator. Each modulator has its own frequency sub-channel andsub-carrier frequency. Since each modulator is very slow, we can affordto insert a guard interval between the symbols, and thus eliminate theISI. Although the fading is frequency-selective over the whole frequencychannel, it can be considered as flat within the narrowband sub-channel.Thus, advanced equalization filters can be avoided. A forward errorcorrection code (FEC) can counteract that a certain portion of thesub-carriers are exposed to too much fading to be correctly demodulated.

OFDM is utilized in the terrestrial digital TV broadcasting systems suchas DVB-T and ISDB-T. OFDM is also widely used in digital radio systems,including DAB, HD Radio, and T-DMB. Therefore these systems are wellsuited to MBSFN operation. The 8VSB modulation method used in NorthAmerica for digital TV, specified in ATSC standard A/110, may perhapsalso allow the use of MBSFN transmission.

Through the use of virtual channel numbering, a multi-frequency network(MFN) can appear as an MBSFN to the viewer in ATSC. Alternatives tousing OFDM modulation in MBSFN self-interference cancellation would be:CDMA Rake receivers. MIMO channels (i.e. phased array antenna),single-carrier modulation in combination by guard intervals andfrequency domain equalization. In a Multicast/Broadcast Single FrequencyNetwork, the transmitters and receivers are usually synchronized withthe others, using GPS or a signal from the main station or network as areference clock. For example, the use of a special marker can beemployed, the Mega-frame Initialization Packet (MIP) that is inserted inthe bit stream at a central distribution point, and signals to the MBSFNtransmitters the absolute time (as read from a GPS receiver) at whichthis point in the data stream is to be broadcast.

Referring to FIG. 1, a multiple access wireless communication systemaccording to one embodiment is illustrated. An access point 100 (AP)includes multiple antenna groups, one including 104 and 106, anotherincluding 108 and 110, and an additional including 112 and 114. In FIG.1, only two antennas are shown for each antenna group, however, more orfewer antennas may be utilized for each antenna group. Access terminal116 (AT) is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas112 and 114 transmit information to access terminal 116 over forwardlink 120 and receive information from access terminal 116 over reverselink 118. Access terminal 122 is in communication with antennas 106 and108, where antennas 106 and 108 transmit information to access terminal122 over forward link 126 and receive information from access terminal122 over reverse link 124. Access terminals 116 and 122 can be UEs. In aFDD system, communication links 118, 120, 124, and 126 may use differentfrequency for communication. For example, forward link 120 may use adifferent frequency than that used by reverse link 118.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designed tocommunicate is often referred to as a sector of the access point. In theembodiment, antenna groups each are designed to communicate to accessterminals in a sector, of the areas covered by access point 100.

In communication over forward links 120 and 126, the transmittingantennas of access point 100 utilize beam forming in order to improvethe signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different accessterminals 116 and 124. Also, an access point using beam forming totransmit to access terminals scattered randomly through its coveragecauses less interference to access terminals in neighboring cells thanan access point transmitting through a single antenna to all its accessterminals.

An access point may be a fixed station used for communicating with theterminals and may also be referred to as an access point, a Node B, orsome other terminology. An access terminal may also be called an accessterminal, user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device,terminal, access terminal, or some other terminology.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a transmitter system 210(also known as the access point) and a receiver system 250 (also knownas access terminal) in a MIMO system 200. At the transmitter system 210,traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source212 to a transmit (TX) data processor 214.

In an embodiment, each data stream is transmitted over a respectivetransmit antenna. TX data processor 214 formats, codes, and interleavesthe traffic data for each data stream based on a particular codingscheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot datausing FORM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known data patternthat is processed in a known manner and may be used at the receiversystem to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and codeddata for each data stream is then modulated (i.e., symbol mapped) basedon a particular modulation scheme (e.g., BASK, ASK, M-PSF, or M-QAM)selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The datarate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined byinstructions performed by processor 230.

The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to a TXMIMO processor 220, which may further process the modulation symbols(e.g., for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 220 then provides N_(T) modulationsymbol streams to N_(T) transmitters (TMTR) 222 a through 222 t. Incertain embodiments, TX MIMO processor 220 applies beam-forming weightsto the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which thesymbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 222 receives and processes a respective symbol streamto provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g.,amplifies, filters, and up converts) the analog signals to provide amodulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. N_(T)modulated signals from transmitters 222 a through 222 t are thentransmitted from N_(T) antennas 224 a through 224 t, respectively.

At receiver system 250, the transmitted modulated signals are receivedby N_(R) antennas 252 a through 252 r and the received signal from eachantenna 252 is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR) 254 a through254 r. Each receiver 254 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective received signal, digitizes the conditioned signalto provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide acorresponding “received” symbol stream.

An RX data processor 260 then receives and processes the N_(R) receivedsymbol streams from N_(R) receivers 254 based on a particular receiverprocessing technique to provide N_(T) “detected” symbol streams. The RXdata processor 260 then demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes eachdetected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream.The processing by RX data processor 260 is complementary to thatperformed by TX MIMO processor 220 and TX data processor 214 attransmitter system 210. A processor 270 periodically determines whichpre-coding matrix to use. Processor 270 formulates a reverse linkmessage comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of informationregarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. Thereverse link message is then processed by a TX data processor 238, whichalso receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a datasource 236, modulated by a modulator 280, conditioned by transmitters254 a through 254 r, and transmitted back to transmitter system 210.

At transmitter system 210, the modulated signals from receiver system250 are received by antennas 224, conditioned by receivers 222,demodulated by a demodulator 240, and processed by a RX data processor242 to extract the reserve link message transmitted by the receiversystem 250. Processor 230 then determines which pre-coding matrix to usefor determining the beam forming weights then processes the extractedmessage.

In an aspect, logical channels are classified into Control Channels andTraffic Channels. Logical Control Channels comprises Broadcast ControlChannel (BCCH) that is DL channel for broadcasting system controlinformation. Paging Control Channel (PCCH) which is DL channel thattransfers paging information. Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) which isPoint-to-multipoint DL channel used for transmitting MultimediaBroadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) scheduling and controlinformation for one or several MTCHs. Generally, after establishing aRadio Resource Control (RRC) connection this channel is only used by UEsthat receive MBMS. Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) is Point-to-pointbi-directional channel that transmits dedicated control information andused by UEs having an RRC connection. In aspect, Logical TrafficChannels comprise a Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) that isPoint-to-point bi-directional channel, dedicated to one UE, for thetransfer of user information. Also, a Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH)for Point-to-multipoint DL channel for transmitting traffic data.

In an aspect, Transport Channels are classified into DL and UL. DLTransport Channels comprises a Broadcast Channel (BCH), Downlink SharedData Channel (DL-SDCH) and a Paging Channel (PCH), the PCH for supportof UE power saving (DRX cycle is indicated by the network to the UE),broadcasted over entire cell and mapped to PHY resources which can beused for other control/traffic channels. The UL Transport Channelscomprises a Random Access Channel (RACH), a Request Channel (REQCH), anUplink Shared Data Channel (UL-SDCH), and plurality of PHY channels. ThePHY channels comprise a set of DL channels and UL channels.

The DL PHY channels comprises:

-   -   Common Pilot Channel (CPICH)    -   Synchronization Channel (SCH)    -   Common Control Channel (CCCH)    -   Shared DL Control Channel (SDCCH)    -   Multicast Control Channel (MCCH)    -   Shared UL Assignment Channel (SUACH)    -   Acknowledgement Channel (ACKCH)    -   DL Physical Shared Data Channel (DL-PSDCH)    -   UL Power Control Channel (UPCCH)    -   Paging Indicator Channel (PICH)    -   Load Indicator Channel (LICH)

The UL PHY Channels comprises:

-   -   Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)    -   Channel Quality Indicator Channel (CQICH)    -   Acknowledgement Channel (ACKCH)    -   Antenna Subset Indicator Channel (ASICH)    -   Shared Request Channel (SREQCH)    -   UL Physical Shared Data Channel (UL-PSDCH)    -   Broadband Pilot Channel (BPICH)

In an aspect, a channel structure is provided that preserves low signalpeak to average (PAR) values, and at any given time, the channel iscontiguous or uniformly spaced in frequency that is a desired propertyof a single carrier waveform.

In Multicast/Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) transmissions ofmulticast or broadcast services (e.g., MBMS), the coverage of service islimited by interference at the edge of the MBSFN transmission area. Tominimize this problem, current designs call for a “buffer zone” of cellsat the edge of the area that do not transmit in the radio resourcesassigned to the service. Some of the exemplary generalized non-limitingembodiments described herein include employing the radio resources ofthese “inactive” cells to reinforce the transmission.

The “dead zone” of inactive cells appears to be the state of the art;others have not noticeably addressed the possibility of using theapparently wasted radio capacity. Cells in the inactive area can beemployed to transmit reinforcing copies of the transmission from theneighboring MBSFN area in stock. Where two MBSFN areas meet without abuffer zone, the radio resources of the boundary cells in each area areassigned to reinforce the transmission in the other area. In stock theherein described methods and apparatus can include a mapping of radioresources to support this.

Described herein is a method for reinforcing broadcast transmissions atthe edge of a group of synchronized cells. The nominal setting is MBMSin the 3GPP LTE environment, but the general outlines of the method arethe same for any MBSFN broadcast transmission in which the transmissiondata rate may be limited by interference from cells at the edge of theservice area.

In the 3GPP LTE setting, MBMS is primarily intended to be realised as aset of synchronised transmissions in a Multicast/Broadcast SingleFrequency Network (MBSFN). The principle in MBSFN operation is that allthe cells in a geographic area transmit a bit-identical data streamusing synchronized radio resources; thus, for a UE listening to theservice in a particular cell, the transmissions from neighboring cellsappear as reinforcing signal rather than as interference.

However, the geographic “footprint” of a service is naturally limited(the evening news in Helsinki is probably not of much interest tosubscribers in Beijing); in addition, the geographical area across whichradio resources can be coordinated by a single network node may belimited. Where two different MBSFN service areas meet, the benefits ofMBSFN transmission are largely lost for UEs near the boundary; withinMBSFN area 1, the transmissions from MBSFN area 2 are seen asinterference, and vice versa. This situation is illustrated in FIG. 3 ina noisy environment 300, with the shading representing different MBSFNareas; a UE 301 in the illustration is listening to a transmission fromthe lighter shaded cells 302, but seeing a large amount of interferencebecause of its proximity to the darker shaded cells 304 in the otherMBSFN transmission group.

To minimize this interference, it is contemplated in RAN3 to maintain aso-called “MBSFN inactive area” as a buffer zone. Cells within this zonewould be forbidden to use the radio resources reserved for the MBSFNtransmission; the capacity of these radio resources would go to waste inthe inactive cells, but they would not create interference for cellswithin the MBSFN area itself. FIG. 4 shows this environment 400 with afirst MBSFN area 402 (MBSFN area 1) separated from a second MBSFN area404 (MBSFN area 2) by a MBSFN inactive area 406.

Here the two MBSFN areas can use the same radio resources withoutcausing large amounts of interference, because the “silent” cells in theinactive area separate them. The disadvantage is evident; UEs in theinactive area probably cannot receive either service reliably.

In an aspect, described herein are methods of reusing the idled radioresources in the MBSFN inactive area to contribute to the adjacent MBSFNtransmissions.

Consider the case where three MBSFN areas meet at a point 502, asrepresented by the differently shaded cells 500 in FIG. 5 including amedium shaded cell A, a dark shaded cell B, and a light shaded cell C.For a UE near the triple point 502, served by cell A in the mediumshaded MBSFN area, the expected SNR would be −3 dB (signal from cell A,and interference from B and C, all at approximately equal strengths).

In an aspect, to mitigate the interference, described is a method tocarry additional transmissions in each of the cells, as shown in FIG. 6.The central dots indicate a duplicate transmission of an adjacent MBSFNarea's data. That is, cell C transmits the service belonging to itselfand also a copy of the service from the cell B. Cell B transmits theservice belonging to itself and also a copy of the service from the cellC. Cell A transmits the service belonging to itself and also a copy ofthe service from the cell B. For example, cell A can be broadcasting LosAngeles local news, cell B can be transmitting San Diego local news, andboth cells A and B (because they are guard or border or buffer cells)transmit each other's transmissions and/or cell C's signal.

This means that the services need to be scheduled in separate resourceblocks. An example of scheduling for the cells above is shown in FIG. 7at environment 700. Cell A's transmission is illustrated at 702. CellB's transmission is illustrated at 704. Cell C's transmission isillustrated at 706. The “extra” transmissions are shaded lighter in eachcell at 708, while the regular transmissions are at 710. These resourceblocks would not normally be read by any UE in the cell that transmitsthem; they are provided only to reinforce transmissions for UEs in othercells.

Now, consider a UE at the triple point 502 of FIG. 5, served by cell A.It sees a reinforcing signal from cell C as well as the transmissionfrom cell A; interference comes only from cell B. In a perfect RFenvironment, with no other contributions, the SNR would be 3 dB, a gainof 6 dB over the situation without the reinforcing transmissions.

This 6 dB gain could be used, e.g., to permit the system to applychanges to modulation and coding to produce a higher application datarate. The exact gain depends upon modulation assumptions and therequired coverage levels; however, analysis suggests that the limiting(edge of cell) data rate could be increased by as much as a factor ofthree, far more than necessary to compensate for the extra radioresources used by the reinforcing transmissions.

It should be noted that in reasonably well-behaved geometries, withMBSFN areas meeting either at an edge or a triple point, the reinforcingscheme can be extended indefinitely. FIG. 8 illustrates an environment800 with a first MBSFN 802 a second MBSFN 804, a third MBSFN 806, afourth MBSFN 808, a fifth MBSFN 810, and a sixth MBSFN 812 each MBSFNarea having 9 cells. The figure indicates one possible arrangement forthe reinforcing transmissions in boundary cells; it should be clear thatthe pattern shown can be repeated. At 820 the cells are transmittingservice of adjoining MBSFNs. It can be one adjoining MBSFN or two ormore MBSFNs. At 822 a cell is illustrated that is one in from theboundary, and thus it is contemplated that a cell broadcasting its' ownservice and echoing another MBSFN cell's service is not limited to onlyboundary cells. This is especially useful in a Femto-cell environment asset forth below.

More complex interactions between MBSFN areas (e.g., if a “four corners”situation is unavoidable) may require changes to this tiling scheme toadapt to the more complex environment. In most cases, these challengescould be met by ad-hoc arrangements, but there may be geometries inwhich some coverage at the edge of the MBSFN area has to be sacrificed.Therefore, in some embodiments, the border includes some cells echoinganother MBSFN's transmission and some cells that do not echo anotherMBSFN's transmission. In any case the limiting SNR is always higher thanit would be without the reinforcing transmissions.

While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies areshown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood andappreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts,as some acts may, in accordance with the claimed subject matter, occurin different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shownand described herein. For example, those skilled in the art willunderstand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in astate diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required toimplement a methodology in accordance with the claimed subject matter.

For a multiple-access system (e.g., FDMA, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, etc.),multiple terminals can transmit concurrently on the uplink. For such asystem, the pilot subbands may be shared among different terminals. Thechannel estimation techniques may be used in cases where the pilotsubbands for each terminal span the entire operating band (possiblyexcept for the band edges). Such a pilot subband structure would bedesirable to obtain frequency diversity for each terminal. Thetechniques described herein may be implemented by various means. Forexample, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, which may bedigital, analog, or both digital and analog, the processing units usedfor channel estimation may be implemented within one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs),digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. Withsoftware, implementation can be through modules (e.g., procedures,functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Thesoftware codes may be stored in memory unit and executed by theprocessors.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, orany combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processingunits may be implemented within one or more application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digitalsignal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 9 illustrates a methodology 900 including broadcasting a firstservice is available in a first MBSFN at 902. At 904 is broadcasting asecond service is available in a second MBSFN. At 906 is supporting aservice not broadcasted as available. At 908 this supporting orreinforcing 906 is done by echoing at 908. At 910 is the scheduling. Forexample, MBSFN 1 including cell A can be broadcasting both the LosAngeles local news and that the Los Angeles local news is available,MBSFN 2 including cell B can be transmitting San Diego local news andthat the San Diego local news is available. Cell A does not advertisethat San Diego local news service is available, and Cell B does notadvertise that the Los Angeles local news service is available, but bothcells A and B (because they are guard or border or buffer cells)transmit each other's transmissions as reinforcing signals for thebenefit of receivers in the other cell.

When the embodiments are implemented in software, firmware, middleware,or microcode, program code or code segments, they may be stored in amachine-readable medium, such as a storage component. A code segment mayrepresent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, asubroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination ofinstructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment maybe coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passingand/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. The software codes may be storedin memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may beimplemented within the processor or external to the processor, in whichcase it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via variousmeans as is known in the art.

FIG. 10 illustrates a methodology 1000 including reinforcing a broadcastof a first MBSFN by a second MBSFN at 1002. In one exemplary generalizednon-limiting embodiment, the methodology 1000 includes employing a guardarea to reinforce the broadcast of the first MBSFN by the second MBSFNat 1004. In another exemplary generalized non-limiting embodiment, themethodology 1000 includes broadcasting to a mobile device at 1006. Themobile device can be receiving a signal from a femtocell or a boomercell. A femtocell was originally called an Access Point Base Station—andis a scalable, multi-channel, two-way communication device extending atypical base station by incorporating all of the major components of thetelecommunications infrastructure. A typical example is a UMTS accesspoint base station containing a Node-B, RNC, and GSN, with only anEthernet or broadband connection (less commonly, ATM/TDM) to theInternet or an intranet. Application of VoIP allows such a unit toprovide voice and data services in the same way as a normal basestation, but with the deployment simplicity of a Wi-Fi access point.Other examples include CDMA-2000 and WiMAX solutions.

The main benefit of an Access Point Base Station is the simplicity ofultra low cost, scalable deployment. Design studies have shown thataccess point base stations can be designed to scale from simple hot-spotcoverage through to large deployments by racking such units intofull-scale base-stations. The claimed attractions for a cellularoperator are that these devices can increase both capacity and coveragewhile reducing both capex (Capital expenditures) and opex (Operatingexpenditures).

Access Point Base Stations are stand-alone units that are typicallydeployed in hot-spots, in-building and even in-home. Variations includeattaching a Wi-Fi router to allow a Wi-Fi hot-spot to work as backhaulfor a cellular hotspot, or vice versa. Femtocells are an alternative wayto deliver the benefits of Fixed Mobile Convergence. The distinction isthat most FMC architectures require a new (dual-mode) handset, while afemtocell-based deployment will work with existing handsets.

As a result, Access Point Base Stations must work with handsets that arecompliant with existing RAN technologies. The reuse of existing RANtechnologies (and potentially re-use of existing frequency channels)could create problems, since the additional femtocell transmittersrepresent a large number of interference sources, potentially resultingin significant operational challenges for existing deployments. This isone of the biggest areas that femtocells must overcome if they are to besuccessful.

Access Point Base Stations typically rely on the Internet forconnectivity, which can potentially reduce deployment costs butintroduces security risks that generally do not exist in typicalcellular systems. A boomer cell is a very big cell that would coverstate sized area or larger.

FIG. 11 illustrates a methodology 1100 wherein a first MBSFN isbroadcasting at 1102 and a second MBSFN is broadcasting at 1003. Thefirst MBSFN is broadcasting a service such as a CNN feed or a MSNBC feedto a mobile device at 1104. The mobile device is in motion and isapproaching an area where support from the second MBSFN would behelpful. In one exemplary generalized non-limiting embodiment, themethodology 1000 includes employing a security layer at 1006. Thesecurity layer can determine if the user is authorized to receive thefeed or not and can instruct the second MBSFN to provide the service tothe mobile device when the service is authorized. The decision can bemade through the employ of an AI layer. In addition, in otherembodiments with or without the security layer, cells can dynamicallyreinforce or not reinforce based at least partially on an AI decision. Asensor can provide feedback at to assist in that decision. For example,the sensor can determine network conditions at a specific time and alterthe number and/or locations of reinforcing cells.

Because at least a portion of the communication between the device 1104and the MBSFNs are wireless, the security layer 1106 is provided in oneexemplary generalized non-limiting embodiment. The security layer 1106can be used to cryptographically protect (e.g., encrypt) data as well asto digitally sign data, to enhance security and unwanted, unintentional,or malicious disclosure. In operation, the security component or layer1106 can communicate data to/from both the MBSFNs and the mobile device1104.

An encryption component can be used to cryptographically protect dataduring transmission as well as while stored. The encryption componentemploys an encryption algorithm to encode data for security purposes.The algorithm is essentially a formula that is used to turn data into asecret code. Each algorithm uses a string of bits known as a ‘key’ toperform the calculations. The larger the key (e.g., the more bits in thekey), the greater the number of potential patterns can be created, thusmaking it harder to break the code and descramble the contents of thedata.

Most encryption algorithms use the block cipher method, which code fixedblocks of input that are typically from 64 to 128 bits in length. Adecryption component can be used to convert encrypted data back to itsoriginal form. In one aspect, a public key can be used to encrypt dataupon transmission to a storage device. Upon retrieval, the data can bedecrypted using a private key that corresponds to the public key used toencrypt.

A signature component can be used to digitally sign data and documentswhen transmitting and/or retrieving from the device 1104. It is to beunderstood that a digital signature or certificate guarantees that afile has not been altered, similar to if it were carried in anelectronically sealed envelope. The ‘signature’ is an encrypted digest(e.g., one-way hash function) used to confirm authenticity of data. Uponaccessing the data, the recipient can decrypt the digest and alsore-compute the digest from the received file or data. If the digestsmatch, the file is proven to be intact and tamper free. In operation,digital certificates issued by a certification authority are most oftenused to ensure authenticity of a digital signature.

Still further, the security layer 1106 can employ contextual awareness(e.g., context awareness component) to enhance security. For example,the contextual awareness component can be employed to monitor and detectcriteria associated with data transmitted to and requested from thedevice 1104. In operation, these contextual factors can be used tofilter spam, control retrieval (e.g., access to highly sensitive datafrom a public network), or the like. It will be understood that, inaspects, the contextual awareness component can employ logic thatregulates transmission and/or retrieval of data in accordance withexternal criteria and factors. The contextual awareness employment canbe used in connection with an artificial intelligence (AI) layer 1108.

The AI layer or component can be employed to facilitate inferring and/ordetermining when, where, how to dynamically vary the level of securityand/or the amount of echoing. Such inference results in the constructionof new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or storedevent data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent(s) and data source(s).

The AI component can also employ any of a variety of suitable AI-basedschemes in connection with facilitating various aspects of the hereindescribed innovation. Classification can employ a probabilistic and/orstatistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilitiesand costs) to prognose or infer an action that a user desires to beautomatically performed. The AI layer can be used in conjunction withthe security layer to infer changes in the data being transferred andmake recommendations to the security layer as to what level of securityto apply.

For example, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier can be employed.Other classification approaches include Bayesian networks, decisiontrees, and probabilistic classification models providing differentpatterns of independence can be employed. Classification as used hereinalso is inclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to developmodels of priority.

Additionally the sensor 1110 can be employed in conjunction with thesecurity layer 1106. Still further, human authentication factors can beused to enhance security employing sensor 1110. For instance, biometrics(e.g., fingerprints, retinal patterns, facial recognition, DNAsequences, handwriting analysis, voice recognition) can be employed toenhance authentication to control access of the storage vault. It willbe understood that embodiments can employ multiple factor tests inauthenticating identity of a user.

The sensor 1110 can also be used to provide the security layer 1106 withgeneralized non-human metric data, such as electromagnetic fieldcondition data or predicted weather data etc. For example, anyconceivable condition can be sensed for and security levels can beadjusted or determined in response to the sensed condition.

FIG. 12 illustrates an environment 1200 wherein a first MBSFN isbroadcasting at 1202 and a second MBSFN is broadcasting at 1203. Thefirst MBSFN is broadcasting a service such as a CNN feed or a MSBN feedto a mobile device at 1204. The mobile device is in motion and isapproaching an area where support from the second MBSFN would behelpful. In one exemplary generalized non-limiting embodiment, themethodology 1200 includes employing an optimizer at 1206. The optimizer1206 is provided to optimize communication between the MBSFNs and device1204. Optimizer 1206 optimizes or increases communication between theMBSFNs and device 1204 by receiving security information from a securitylayer 1208. For example, when security layer 1208 informs optimizer 1206that they are both in a secured environment, the optimizer 1206 balancesthis information with other information and may instruct the securitylayer 1208 to make all transmissions security free to achieve top speed.Additionally, a feedback layer or component 1210 can provide feedback asto missed data packets or other information to provide feedback to theoptimizer 1206. This feedback of missed packets can be balanced againstdesired security level to enable less secure but higher throughput datatransfer if desired.

FIG. 13 provides a schematic diagram of an exemplary networked ordistributed computing environment in which echoing can be employed. Thedistributed computing environment comprises computing objects 1310 a,1310 b, etc. and computing objects or devices 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c,1320 d, 1320 e, etc. These objects can comprise programs, methods, datastores, programmable logic, etc. The objects can comprise portions ofthe same or different devices such as PDAs, audio/video devices, MP3players, personal computers, etc. Each object can communicate withanother object by way of the communications network 1340. This networkcan itself comprise other computing objects and computing devices thatprovide services to the system of FIG. 13, and can itself representmultiple interconnected networks. In accordance with an aspect of atleast one generalized non-limiting embodiment, each object 1310 a, 1310b, etc. or 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc. can contain anapplication that might make use of an application programming interface(API), or other object, software, firmware and/or hardware, suitable foruse with the design framework in accordance with at least onegeneralized non-limiting embodiment.

It can also be appreciated that an object, such as 1320 c, can be hostedon another computing device 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. or 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc. Thus, although the physical environment depictedcan show the connected devices as computers, such illustration is merelyexemplary and the physical environment can alternatively be depicted ordescribed comprising various digital devices such as PDAs, televisions,MP3 players, etc., any of which can employ a variety of wired andwireless services, software objects such as interfaces, COM objects, andthe like.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurationsthat support distributed computing environments. For example, computingsystems can be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by localnetworks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many of the networksare coupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widelydistributed computing and encompasses many different networks. Any ofthe infrastructures can be used for exemplary communications madeincident to optimization algorithms and processes according to thepresent innovation.

In home networking environments, there are at least four disparatenetwork transport media that can each support a unique protocol, such asPower line, data (both wireless and wired), voice (e.g., telephone) andentertainment media. Most home control devices such as light switchesand appliances can use power lines for connectivity. Data Services canenter the home as broadband (e.g., either DSL or Cable modem) and areaccessible within the home using either wireless (e.g., HomeRF or802.11A/B/G) or wired (e.g., Home PNA, Cat 5, Ethernet, even power line)connectivity. Voice traffic can enter the home either as wired (e.g.,Cat 3) or wireless (e.g., cell phones) and can be distributed within thehome using Cat 3 wiring. Entertainment media, or other graphical data,can enter the home either through satellite or cable and is typicallydistributed in the home using coaxial cable. IEEE 1394 and DVI are alsodigital interconnects for clusters of media devices. All of thesenetwork environments and others that can emerge, or already haveemerged, as protocol standards can be interconnected to form a network,such as an intranet, that can be connected to the outside world by wayof a wide area network, such as the Internet. In short, a variety ofdisparate sources exist for the storage and transmission of data, andconsequently, any of the computing devices of the present innovation canshare and communicate data in any existing manner, and no one waydescribed in the embodiments herein is intended to be limiting.

The Internet commonly refers to the collection of networks and gatewaysthat utilize the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) suite of protocols, which are well-known in the art of computernetworking. The Internet can be described as a system of geographicallydistributed remote computer networks interconnected by computersexecuting networking protocols that allow users to interact and shareinformation over network(s). Because of such wide-spread informationsharing, remote networks such as the Internet have thus far generallyevolved into an open system with which developers can design softwareapplications for performing specialized operations or services,essentially without restriction.

Thus, the network infrastructure enables a host of network topologiessuch as client/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures. The“client” is a member of a class or group that uses the services ofanother class or group to which it is not related. Thus, in computing, aclient is a process, i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, thatrequests a service provided by another program. The client processutilizes the requested service without having to “know” any workingdetails about the other program or the service itself. In aclient/server architecture, particularly a networked system, a client isusually a computer that accesses shared network resources provided byanother computer, e.g., a server. In the illustration of FIG. 13, as anexample, computers 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc. can bethought of as clients and computers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. can be thoughtof as servers where servers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. maintain the data thatis then replicated to client computers 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d,1320 e, etc., although any computer can be considered a client, aserver, or both, depending on the circumstances. Any of these computingdevices can be processing data or requesting services or tasks that canimplicate the optimization algorithms and processes in accordance withat least one generalized non-limiting embodiment.

A server is typically a remote computer system accessible over a remoteor local network, such as the Internet or wireless networkinfrastructures. The client process can be active in a first computersystem, and the server process can be active in a second computersystem, communicating with one another over a communications medium,thus providing distributed functionality and allowing multiple clientsto take advantage of the information-gathering capabilities of theserver. Any software objects utilized pursuant to the optimizationalgorithms and processes of at least one generalized non-limitingembodiment can be distributed across multiple computing devices orobjects.

Client(s) and server(s) communicate with one another utilizing thefunctionality provided by protocol layer(s). For example, HyperTextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) is a common protocol that is used inconjunction with the World Wide Web (WWW), or “the Web.” Typically, acomputer network address such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address orother reference such as a Universal Resource Locator (URL) can be usedto identify the server or client computers to each other. The networkaddress can be referred to as a URL address. Communication can beprovided over a communications medium, e.g., client(s) and server(s) canbe coupled to one another via TCP/IP connection(s) for high-capacitycommunication.

Thus, FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary networked or distributedenvironment, with server(s) in communication with client computer (s)via a network/bus, in which the herein described echoing or supportingone MBSFN with another MBSFN can be employed. In more detail, a numberof servers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. are interconnected via a communicationsnetwork/bus 1340, which can be a LAN, WAN, intranet, GSM network, theInternet, etc., with a number of client or remote computing devices 1320a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc., such as a portable computer,handheld computer, thin client, networked appliance, or other device,such as a VCR, TV, oven, light, heater and the like in accordance withthe present innovation. It is thus contemplated that the presentinnovation can apply to any computing device in connection with which itis desirable to communicate data over a network.

In a network environment in which the communications network/bus 1340 isthe Internet, for example, the servers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. can be Webservers with which the clients 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e,etc. communicate via any of a number of known protocols such as HTTP.Servers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. can also serve as clients 1320 a, 1320 b,1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc., as can be characteristic of a distributedcomputing environment.

As mentioned, communications can be wired or wireless, or a combination,where appropriate. Client devices 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320e, etc. can or cannot communicate via communications network/bus 14, andcan have independent communications associated therewith. For example,in the case of a TV or VCR, there can or cannot be a networked aspect tothe control thereof. Each client computer 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320d, 1320 e, etc. and server computer 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. can be equippedwith various application program modules or objects 1335 a, 1335 b, 1335c, etc. and with connections or access to various types of storageelements or objects, across which files or data streams can be stored orto which portion(s) of files or data streams can be downloaded,transmitted or migrated. Any one or more of computers 1310 a, 1310 b,1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc. can be responsible for themaintenance and updating of a database 1330 or other storage element,such as a database or memory 1330 for storing data processed or savedaccording to at least one generalized non-limiting embodiment. Thus, thepresent innovation can be utilized in a computer network environmenthaving client computers 1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc.that can access and interact with a computer network/bus 1340 and servercomputers 1310 a, 1310 b, etc. that can interact with client computers1320 a, 1320 b, 1320 c, 1320 d, 1320 e, etc. and other like devices, anddatabases 1330.

Exemplary Computing Device

As mentioned, the innovation applies to any device wherein it can bedesirable to communicate data, e.g., to a mobile device. It should beunderstood, therefore, that handheld, portable and other computingdevices and computing objects of all kinds are contemplated for use inconnection with the present innovation, i. e., anywhere that a devicecan communicate data or otherwise receive, process or store data.Accordingly, the below general purpose remote computer described belowin FIG. 11 is but one example, and the present innovation can beimplemented with any client having network/bus interoperability andinteraction. Thus, the present innovation can be implemented in anenvironment of networked hosted services in which very little or minimalclient resources are implicated, e.g., a networked environment in whichthe client device serves merely as an interface to the network/bus, suchas an object placed in an appliance.

Although not required, at least one generalized non-limiting embodimentcan partly be implemented via an operating system, for use by adeveloper of services for a device or object, and/or included withinapplication software that operates in connection with the component(s)of at least one generalized non-limiting embodiment. Software can bedescribed in the general context of computer executable instructions,such as program modules, being executed by one or more computers, suchas client workstations, servers, or other devices. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that the innovation can be practiced with othercomputer system configurations and protocols.

FIG. 14 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing systemenvironment 1400 a in which the innovation can be implemented, althoughas made clear above, the computing system environment 1400 a is only oneexample of a suitable computing environment and is not intended tosuggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of theinnovation. Neither should the computing environment 1400 a beinterpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any oneor combination of components illustrated in the exemplary operatingenvironment 1400 a.

With reference to FIG. 14, an exemplary remote device for implementingat least one generalized non-limiting embodiment includes a generalpurpose computing device in the form of a computer 1410 a. Components ofcomputer 1410 a can include, but are not limited to, a processing unit1420 a, a system memory 1430 a, and a system bus 1425 a that couplesvarious system components including the system memory to the processingunit 1420 a. The system bus 1425 a can be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

Computer 1410 a typically includes a variety of computer readable media.Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby computer 1410 a. By way of example, and not limitation, computerreadable media can comprise computer storage media and communicationmedia. Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computerstorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CDROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by computer 1410 a. Communication media typically embodiescomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media.

The system memory 1430 a can include computer storage media in the formof volatile and/or non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM)and/or random access memory (RAM). A basic input/output system (BIOS),containing the basic routines that help to transfer information betweenelements within computer 1410 a, such as during start-up, can be storedin memory 1430 a. Memory 1430 a typically also contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processing unit 1420 a. By way of example, and notlimitation, memory 1430 a can also include an operating system,application programs, other program modules, and program data.

The computer 1410 a can also include other removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. For example, computer 1410a could include a hard disk drive that reads from or writes tonon-removable, non-volatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk, and/oran optical disk drive that reads from or writes to a removable,non-volatile optical disk, such as a CD-ROM or other optical media.Other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storagemedia that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include,but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards,digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solidstate ROM and the like. A hard disk drive is typically connected to thesystem bus 1425 a through a non-removable memory interface such as aninterface, and a magnetic disk drive or optical disk drive is typicallyconnected to the system bus 1425 a by a removable memory interface, suchas an interface.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1410 athrough input devices such as a keyboard and pointing device, commonlyreferred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices caninclude a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, orthe like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 1420 a through user input 1440 a and associatedinterface(s) that are coupled to the system bus 1425 a, but can beconnected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallelport, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A graphics subsystemcan also be connected to the system bus 1425 a. A monitor or other typeof display device is also connected to the system bus 1425 a via aninterface, such as output interface 1450 a, which can in turncommunicate with video memory. In addition to a monitor, computers canalso include other peripheral output devices such as speakers and aprinter, which can be connected through output interface 1450 a.

The computer 1410 a can operate in a networked or distributedenvironment using logical connections to one or more other remotecomputers, such as remote computer 1470 a, which can in turn have mediacapabilities different from device 1410 a. The remote computer 1470 acan be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peerdevice or other common network node, or any other remote mediaconsumption or transmission device, and can include any or all of theelements described above relative to the computer 1410 a. The logicalconnections depicted in FIG. 14 include a network 1480 a, such localarea network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but can also includeother networks/buses. Such networking environments are commonplace inhomes, offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1410 a isconnected to the LAN 1480 a through a network interface or adapter. Whenused in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1410 a typicallyincludes a communications component, such as a modem, or other means forestablishing communications over the WAN, such as the Internet. Acommunications component, such as a modem, which can be internal orexternal, can be connected to the system bus 1425 a via the user inputinterface of input 1440 a, or other appropriate mechanism. In anetworked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer1410 a, or portions thereof, can be stored in a remote memory storagedevice. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown anddescribed are exemplary and other means of establishing a communicationslink between the computers can be used.

FIG. 15 illustrates a wireless communication system 1500 with multiplebase stations 1510 and multiple terminals 1520, such as may be utilizedin conjunction with one or more aspects of the herein described echoing.A base station is generally a fixed station that communicates with theterminals and may also be called an access point, a Node B, or someother terminology. Each base station 1510 provides communicationcoverage for a particular geographic area, illustrated as threegeographic areas, labeled 1502 a, 1502 b, and 1502 c. The term “cell”can refer to a base station and/or its coverage area depending on thecontext in which the term is used. To improve system capacity, a basestation coverage area may be partitioned into multiple smaller areas(e.g., three smaller areas, according to cell 1502 a in FIG. 15), 1504a, 1504 b, and 1504 c. Each smaller area can be served by a respectivebase transceiver subsystem (BTS). The term “sector” can refer to a BTSand/or its coverage area depending on the context in which the term isused. For a sectorized cell, the BTSs for all sectors of that cell aretypically co-located within the base station for the cell. Thetransmission techniques described herein may be used for a system withsectorized cells as well as a system with un-sectorized cells. Forsimplicity, in the following description, the term “base station” isused generically for a fixed station that serves a sector as well as afixed station that serves a cell.

Terminals 1520 are typically dispersed throughout the system, and eachterminal may be fixed or mobile. A terminal may also be called a mobilestation, user equipment, a user device, or some other terminology. Aterminal may be a wireless device, a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a wireless modem card, and so on. Each terminal 1520may communicate with zero, one, or multiple base stations on thedownlink and uplink at any given moment. The downlink (or forward link)refers to the communication link from the base stations to theterminals, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communicationlink from the terminals to the base stations.

For a centralized architecture, a system controller 1530 couples to basestations 1510 and provides coordination and control for base stations 1510. For a distributed architecture, base stations 1510 may communicatewith one another as needed. Data transmission on the forward link occursfrom one access point to one access terminal at or near the maximum datarate that can be supported by the forward link and/or the communicationsystem. Additional channels of the forward link (e.g., control channel)may be transmitted from multiple access points to one access terminal.Reverse link data communication may occur from one access terminal toone or more access points.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of an ad hoc or unplanned/semi-plannedwireless communication environment 1600, in accordance with variousaspects of the herein described echoing. System 1600 can comprise one ormore base stations 1602 in one or more sectors that receive, transmit,repeat, etc., wireless communication signals to each other and/or to oneor more mobile devices 1604. As illustrated, each base station 1602 canprovide communication coverage for a particular geographic area,illustrated as three geographic areas, labeled 1606 a, 1606 b, 1606 c,and 1606 d. Each base station 1602 can comprise a transmitter chain anda receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality ofcomponents associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g.,processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers,antennas, and so forth.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in theart. Mobile devices 1604 may be, for example, cellular phones, smartphones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computingdevices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or anyother suitable device for communicating over wireless network 1600.System 1600 can be employed in conjunction with various aspectsdescribed herein in order for one MBSFN to reinforce another MBSFN.

FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary access terminal 1700 that can providefeedback to communications networks, in accordance with one or moreaspects of the herein described echoing. Access terminal 1700 comprisesa receiver 1702 (e.g., an antenna) that receives a signal and performstypical actions on (e.g., filters, amplifies, down converts, etc.) thereceived signal. Specifically, receiver 1702 can also receive a serviceschedule defining services apportioned to one or more blocks of atransmission allocation period, a schedule correlating a block ofdownlink resources with a block of uplink resources for providingfeedback information as described herein, or the like. Receiver 1702 cancomprise a demodulator 1704 that can demodulate received symbols andprovide them to a processor 1706 for evaluation. Processor 1706 can be aprocessor dedicated to analyzing information received by receiver 1702and/or generating information for transmission by a transmitter 1716.Additionally, processor 1706 can be a processor that controls one ormore components of access terminal 1700, and/or a processor thatanalyzes information received by receiver 1702, generates informationfor transmission by transmitter 1716, and controls one or morecomponents of access terminal 1700. Additionally, processor 1706 canexecute instructions for interpreting a correlation of uplink anddownlink resources received by receiver 1702, identifying un-receiveddownlink block, or generating a feedback message, such as a bitmap,appropriate to signal such un-received block or blocks, or for analyzinga hash function to determine an appropriate uplink resource of aplurality of uplink resources, as described herein.

Access terminal 1700 can additionally comprise memory 1708 that isoperatively coupled to processor 1706 and that may store data to betransmitted, received, and the like. Memory 1708 can store informationrelated to downlink resource scheduling, protocols for evaluating theforegoing, protocols for identifying un-received portions of atransmission, for determining an indecipherable transmission, fortransmitting a feedback message to an access point, and the like.

It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory 1708) describedherein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or caninclude both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration,and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory(ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memorycan include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory 1708 of the subject systems and methods is intended tocomprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable typesof memory.

Receiver 1702 is further operatively coupled to multiplex antenna 1710that can receive a scheduled correlation between one or more additionalblocks of downlink transmission resources and a block of uplinktransmission resources. A multiplex processor 1706 can include amulti-digit. Further, a calculation processor 1712 can receive afeedback probability function, wherein the function limits a probabilitythat a feedback message is provided by access terminal 1700, asdescribed herein, if the block of downlink transmission resources, ordata associated therewith, is not received.

Access terminal 1700 still further comprises a modulator 1714 and atransmitter 1716 that transmits the signal to, for instance, a basestation, an access point, another access terminal, a remote agent, etc.Although depicted as being separate from the processor 1706, it is to beappreciated that signal generator 1710 and indicator evaluator 1712 maybe part of processor 1706 or a number of processors (not shown).

What has been described above includes examples of one or more aspects.It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combinationof components or methodologies for purposes of describing theaforementioned aspects, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of variousaspects are possible. Accordingly, the described aspects are intended toembrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fallwithin the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or theclaims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to theterm “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

1. A method for a wireless communication system including a plurality ofcells, the method comprising: reusing otherwise idled radio resources inan MBSFN inactive area including a plurality of cells to contribute toan adjacent MBSFN transmission; and carrying additional transmissions inat least one of the cells.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1wherein the carrying additional transmissions in at least one of thecells comprises transmitting a service that the MBSFN does not advertiseas having.
 3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the carryingadditional transmissions in at least one of the cells comprisestransmitting both a service that the MBSFN does not advertise as havingand a service that the MBSFN does advertise as having.
 4. A method inaccordance with claim 1 wherein the carrying additional transmissions inat least one of the cells comprises transmitting a service that theMBSFN does not advertise as having but that the adjacent MBSFN doesadvertise as having.
 5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein thecarrying additional transmissions in at least one of the cells comprisestransmitting a MBMS service that the MBSFN does not advertise as having.6. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the carrying additionaltransmissions in at least one of the cells comprises transmitting a MBMSservice that the MBSFN does not advertise as having but that theadjacent MBSFN does advertise as having.
 7. A method comprising:broadcasting that a first service is available from a first MBSFN;broadcasting that a second service is available from a second MBSFN;reinforcing the first service with the second MBSFN.
 8. A method inaccordance with claim 7 wherein the broadcasting that a first service isavailable comprises broadcasting that a first MBMS service is available.9. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein the broadcasting that afirst service is available comprises broadcasting that a first MBMSservice is available and the broadcasting that a second service isavailable comprises broadcasting that a second MBMS service isavailable.
 10. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprisingdynamically changing the reinforcing the first service with the secondMBSFN.
 11. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprisingdynamically scheduling the reinforcing the first service with the secondMBSFN along with a transmission of the second service from the secondMBSFN.
 12. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprisingdynamically changing the reinforcing the first service with the secondMBSFN based on a network condition.
 13. A method in accordance withclaim 7 further comprising dynamically scheduling the reinforcing thefirst service with the second MBSFN along with a transmission of thesecond service from the second MBSFN based on a network condition.
 14. Amethod in accordance with claim 7 further comprising dynamicallychanging the reinforcing the first service with the second MBSFN basedon a subscriber factor.
 15. A method in accordance with claim 7 furthercomprising dynamically changing the reinforcing the first service withthe second MBSFN based on a subscriber factor comprising a demographic,a number of current subscribers, and a location of a subscriber.
 16. Amethod in accordance with claim 7 further comprising: broadcasting thata third service is available from a third MBSFN; reinforcing the thirdservice with the second MBSFN.
 17. A method in accordance with claim 16further comprising dynamically scheduling the reinforcing the firstservice and the second service based on a network condition.
 18. Anapparatus operable in a wireless communication system, the apparatuscomprising: a processor configured for using a border area between atleast two adjacent MBSFN transmission areas, the border area belongingto a first MBSFN and configured to support a transmission from anotherMBSFN; and a memory coupled to the processor for storing data.
 19. Anapparatus in accordance with claim 18 wherein the processor isconfigured to dynamically change the reinforcing the first service withthe second MBSFN based on a subscriber factor comprising a demographic,a number of current subscribers, and a location of a subscriber.
 20. Anapparatus in accordance with claim 18 wherein the processor isconfigured to dynamically schedule the reinforcing the first servicewith the second MBSFN along with a transmission of the second servicefrom the second MBSFN based on a network condition.
 21. An apparatus inaccordance with claim 18 wherein the processor is configured to transmita service that the first MBSFN does not advertise as having.
 22. Anapparatus in accordance with claim 18 wherein the processor isconfigured to transmit a MBMS service that the first MBSFN does notadvertise as having but that the another MBSFN does advertise as having.23. An apparatus operable in a wireless communication system including aplurality of cells, the apparatus comprising: means for reusing an idledradio resource in a MBSFN inactive area to contribute to an adjacentMBSFN transmission; and means for carrying additional transmissions ineach of the cells.
 24. Apparatus comprising: a mobile device comprisinga processor configured to receive from a border area belonging to afirst MBSFN a transmission echoing a second MBSFN.
 25. A computerprogram product, comprising: a computer-readable medium comprising: codefor reusing an idled radio resource in a MBSFN inactive area tocontribute to an adjacent MBSFN transmission.